Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Yohelga.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Yohelgaxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Alva, Fla. The objective of the breeding program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated from a cross made in December, 1999, in Salinas, Calif., of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Yogretchen, disclosed in a U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Chrysanthemum selection identified as code number 93-L591002, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross grown in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. in November, 2000. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Alva, Fla. since January, 2001, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Yohelga has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Yohelgaxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Yohelgaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright, mounded and rounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Decorative-type inflorescences.
5. White-colored ray florets.
6. Early flowering; natural season flowering in mid-September in the Northern Hemisphere.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the female parent, the cultivar Yogretchen, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had slightly larger inflorescences than plants of the cultivar Yogretchen.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about five days later than plants of the cultivar Yogretchen when grown under natural season conditions.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Yogretchen differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the cultivar Yogretchen had golden yellow-colored ray florets.
In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the male parent, the selection 93-L284001, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were larger than plants of the selection 93-L284001.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than plants of the selection 93-L284001.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the selection 93-L284001 differed in ray floret coloration as plants of the selection 93-L284001 had yellow-colored ray florets.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum can be compared to plants of the cultivar Tartino, not patented. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Alva, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Tartino in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum were slightly larger than plants of the cultivar Tartino.
2. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum had larger inflorescences than of plants of the cultivar Tartino.
3. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Tartino differed in ray floret color as plants of the cultivar Tartino had yellow-colored ray florets.
4. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about ten days earlier than plants of the cultivar Tartino when grown under natural season conditions.